The Prince
by the-little-guru
Summary: Unalaq is the Second Born prince of the Northern Water Tribe, and feel immensely dissatisfied with his life and the world. Written for round 9 of the Probending Circuit. (The final one!)


a/n:  
Beginning: The music reached its peak just as the girl was lifted into the air.  
Ending: Sometimes, it's just better to quit while you're ahead.  
Object: a music box with a crystal ballerina  
Prompts: (dialogue) "Were you expecting someone else?", (emotion) surprise, (character) Unalaq  
Round element: Spirit  
Word count: 2864

* * *

The music reached its peak just as the girl was lifted into the air. She twirled around and laughed with a voice tinkling like silver toy bells. She was so slender and fluid and graceful with dim blue lights from the icy candles reflecting off of her tan face, sparkling from her deep blue eyes, gleaming from her dark glossy hair. She was alight with happiness as she spun around in the arms of...

 _His older brother._

From a table near the corner of the ballroom in the Northern Water Tribe Palace, the nineteen year old Prince Unalaq nursed a drink and his wounded pride as he watched his older brother dance his way through almost every single girl at the ball. Everyone swarmed around the man, admiring his handsome cocky grin, broad muscular stature, easy charisma, confidence, overstated presence...everything that Unalaq didn't have. His older brother was the pride of the Water Tribe. When _Tonraq_ was around, nobody paid any attention to the younger child.

It was unfair; Unalaq was by far the wiser, the calmer and more spiritual brother who would grow into the better leader for the nation.

But he was denied chiefdom. He was bereft of esteem. And he'd _always_ get second dibs on a future wife.

Unalaq glanced back to the dance floor in slight envy, where his older brother was murmuring sweet nothings into the ear of Malina, who was easily the most beautiful person in attendance. She was the daughter of an important member on the council, and first in line for bride to the chief. Which meant...

 _I shouldn't be pining after her..._

* * *

Malina was two years younger than him, lived on the other side of the capital, and often came over to play when they were little children. Her father often dropped her off at the palace before work, and Unalaq remembered that she would always give her father a quick hug and three small pats on the left hand before running off with him. Then, they'd run up and down the hallways, or dance (Malina loved dancing), or he'd read to her, or go skating, or build ice castles and play house.

Tonraq, of course, never paid attention to them. He was busy doing "masculine-warrior" things, like sharpening his knifes and learning waterbending. Unalaq remembered asking his idiot brother if he wanted to play with them when he was eight, and Tonraq saying, "I can't play with little girls!"

(Unalaq never lived down the little-girl comment)

Tonraq would only ever pay attention to them when he and his older buddies wanted to play a prank. He remembered being drenched in salt water dozens of times before he got fed up.

It was time to declare a prank war; him and Malina against Tonraq and his friends.

He and Malina always won, of course.

Unalaq was by far the more clever and cautious brother. After about six weeks of melted stairs, water bombs, and water in his crotch that looked like an _"accident"_ , Tonraq surrendered. Unalaq was very smug, although a little disappointed that father never even found out his victory. Father never found anything out unless _Tonraq_ wanted him to.

As usual in most royal families, the second born was always slightly neglected. Unalaq was always given whatever he asked for, but nobody really thought he was important. However, that actually turned out to be a good thing, since he got more time to play with Malina, instead of learning waterbending or politics.

But everything changed when Malina turned ten.

Unalaq was the first to be invited to her party, of course. He asked Father for money to buy her a gift, and a very large amount was given to him without a second thought. A maid was assigned to take him out, since his brother was busy doing...whatever "important" stuff he did.

The day of the party, Unalaq was the first to give her a gift. It was carefully wrapped, and he carried it up proudly himself.

Malina carefully untied the strings and pulled off the linen covering to reveal a small, pale blue box, engraved with swirling waves of water and spirits. The lid was beset with a pure white gemstone, carved in a circle with Yue in the middle. When Malina opened it up, and a tiny crystal ballerina popped out, completely clear and full of intricate details from delicately blown glass. Unalaq excitedly took the box from her and wound up the key on the side. The ballerina started to spin slowly, accompanied by tiny, twinkling music.

Unalaq studied Malina as she carefully traced the details on the box with almost a wondrous expression on her face.

Then, she leaned up and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

He froze with surprise and felt a mortified blush crawling up his entire face. He cleared his throat and have her a quick, awkward pat on the arm before scurrying away to the background where he was more comfortable. From the front of the table, he could see Malina's father giving him a very odd look. Unalaq tried to give him a friendly smile, but received nothing in return.

He frowned slightly and started to pick at his sea prunes, looking on unhappily as he watched his brother giving Malina a very pretty doll and a hug. She seemed more enthusiastic about the doll than his music box.

That evening, Unalaq and Tonraq's father made them go home earlier than usual. Unalaq suspected that it was Malina's father who wanted them to leave. He must've been upset or something.

When they got home, Unalaq went straight to bed even though he wasn't tired. He wanted to be alone and stew over the fact that they weren't allowed them to stay later.

What was the reason?

After that birthday party, Malina stopped coming over the palace to play with him. When he asked why, Father said that Malina was a growing into a "young lady", and she had to start learning "Lady-like" behavior. Which meant no more running around with boys and building ice castles.

For four years, he almost never saw her and felt excruciating boredom, so he started to read.

Right next to the Royal Palace was the capital's largest library. He remembered sometimes reading with Malina there, but she never wanted to stay. She always wanted to go outside and play in the snow, so he rarely got to finish a book.

He shook his head and tried to forget about it. Some things just... _were_ , and there was nothing anyone could do about it. Like how he was born skinny and awkward, or how father loved Tonraq more, or how Tonraq would get the throne and he wouldn't. It was best to just accept his place.

He pulled a book off the shelf at random and began to read. Father had said they would visit Malina soon, but they never did. Tonraq said that if Malina actually like him, she would've convinced her father to let her visit. He didn't say it maliciously, but Unalaq still felt an unpleasant twinge of anger.

He exhaled and forced himself to calm down. He could simply distract himself with the solid, emotionless tomes of literature and knowledge.

The current book in his hands was about the spirits, and it was awfully boring. He skimmed through the pages, barely absorbing a word, until his eyes grazed across the word _power_.

 _The spirits are immensely powerful creatures with the ability to do morph their environment and themselves in ways that humans could never hope to achieve...they draw from the power of the universe...they possess extreme power over their environment...very rarely have they accepted humans as equals...patience and humility is needed, as well as respect and extensive knowledge...humans in touch with spirituality can become the most powerful in the world..._

Unalaq's eyes widened. That was it! That was how he'd make it!

His brother always had everyone's attention because he would be future chief, and he was confident, and could charm the adults like nobody's business. But there was no way a big airheaded thug like him could _possibly_ be spiritual. That was the one aspect that Unalaq alone could excel in.

He may not be allowed to become the Northern Water Tribe's political leader (that position was reserved for Tonraq), be he could become the best spiritual leader the North had ever seen! He might even have _more_ influence...

He smiled to himself and continued to read. It felt like every word, every phrase, every series of squiggled ink on parchment brought him more power over his own destiny.

According to the scrolls, one of the most important exercises for spirituality was meditation. It also happened to be a terrific way to practice his escapist tendencies.

Meditation was all about extreme control over his body, thoughts, desires, and emotions. He schooled his face into something that always looked kind, unreadable, and perpetually calm.

Strangely enough, it was extremely heady to feel so in control when everyone else were slaves to their own minds and emotions. He had the ability to suppress his own mind ruthlessly.

But on Malina's sixteenth birthday, he slipped a little.

It was the first time he'd seen her, _really_ seen her closely in over two years. He was calm, of course. Controlled. Quiet. Soft spoken.

His brother was not. The whole way traveling there, Tonraq looked annoyingly satisfied about something, and kept reaching his hand into his pocket. Recently, Unalaq's brother had been spending a lot of time in his room, but Unalaq wasn't very bothered to find out what the idiot was doing. He was too caught up on his reading and waterbending and meditation.

But when father told Tonraq to keep his decorum while **proposing** , Unalaq's eyes widened in surprise.

"Who are you proposing to?" he demanded.

"Malina of course!" said Tonraq, giving him an odd look, "Something wrong with that?"

"No." replied Unalaq, reverting back to a controlled, nearly monotonous tone. "I was simply unaware."

"You would've been aware if you ate dinner with the rest of us for once, instead of staying in your room all the time." sighed Tonraq, "What do you even do up there anyways?"

"Read." replied Unalaq shortly.

"You need to get out more." said his brother with a playful punch at his shoulder, "Y'know, make some friends or go on a date or something. Reading's boring."

"No it's not." said Unalaq petulantly, "And you've never been on a date, so what would you know?"

"He's not supposed to court other women." said Father suddenly, "He's been designated to marry Councilman Tuktu's daughter since she was born."

"Oh." replied Unalaq with barely viciously suppressed surprise and disappointment.

Well...that explained why he wasn't allowed to see Malina. They were afraid Malina would have a crush on him ( _spirits that sounds childish_ ).

Unalaq shut his eyes and exhaled silently. Then, he opened them back up and decided to not care about it. He would meet Malina at the party, exchange some polite banalities, bear through the awful insipidity of dancing and conversations with father's political friends, and then go back to the palace where he could systematically clear his thoughts in peace. Perhaps he could even manage a journey into the spirit world...

A day after his eighteenth birthday, he _finally_ did it.

He entered the spirit world for the first time.

He will never forget that evening. That was the evening he morphed from a naive little boy to a mature, controlled man with a knowledgeable mind and a new purpose in life. He came through new and improved.

Unalaq was trying to practice meditation when suddenly, he was surrounded on all sides by a cool mist, tinted sepia by light from a sunless sky, filtered by the brown leaves of gnarled trees. He gasped at how magnificent it looked and how much energy he could feel all around. He could hear every synchronized breath and feel every heartbeat from the entire metaphysical plane; plants, animals...even the earth, air and water.

 _"Welcome."_ said a sudden voice, startling him out of his reverie.

He turned around, eyes wide when he was met with the sight of another young man who looked about seven or eight years his senior. He was short, broad, and had a fresh, shiny pink scar slashed over one of his eyebrows. Coarse hair stuck up from his head in all directions, a scruffy little beard sprouted out from his chin, and his face was stuck in a slight scowl. If Unalaq had to guess, this man looked more like a pirate or bandit than a spirit or a wise human who regularly meditated into the spirit world.

"Why so surprised?" asked the other man, noting his dubious expression, "Were you expecting someone else?"

"I wasn't even expecting to get into the spirit world." said Unalaq warily, "Who are you? Where am I?"

"You are in Xia Bao's grove." said the young man, "And I am a friend."

"What is your name?"

"Are you curious about the spirits?" asked the young man, ignoring his previous question.

"Yes. What is your name?"

The man smiled slightly. "Do you know the origins of the physical and spiritual worlds?"

"No I do not. I also do not know your name." said Unalaq pointedly.

"You are too impatient for personal information." said the man patiently, "Do you not trust me?"

"My instincts are telling me-"

"Instinct is a lie," interrupted the older man, "Told by a fearful body, hoping to be wrong."

"Oh," said Unalaq, surprised by the man's choice of quote, "That was by Laghima."

"Ah." said the man, "So you've heard of the poet, Guru Laghima?"

"Yes. I'm a great admirer of his work."

This seemed to make the other man very pleased. "You have fine taste."

"Well...I just read a lot." sad Unalaq awkwardly.

"For knowledge or for pleasure?"

"Knowledge _is_ pleasure." replied Unalaq.

This seemed to be the final step in gaining the other man's trust. He smiled widely and held out a hand. "My name is Zaheer." he said in an appraising voice, "And I believe I have a proposition that may interest you..."

* * *

Unalaq snapped out of his memories when a hesitant hand rested on his shoulders.

"Unalaq, you don't look like you're having a good time." said a deep voice.

"Hello, Tonraq." he replied tonelessly, "I was contemplating."

"Let me guess...something to do with spirits?" asked Tonraq with a cocked eyebrow.

Unalaq shrugged, not bothered to talk about it. His older brother was so shallow and clueless. When he looked at Unalaq, it was like he was looking at something that was not quite normal...not quite _human_. He didn't think there was anything about Unalaq that didn't have to do with spirits. At this point, it was kind of true, but it was still offensive that Tonraq didn't bother to interact with him beyond tedious platitudes, common courtesy, and superficial assumptions.

Of course, Unalaq did nothing to try to bridge the gap between the two of them; he wanted to have as little to do with Tonraq as possible.

"I have to use the bathroom." said Unalaq, striding away rudely.

It was better if his older brother didn't like him much to begin with. After all, he _was_ going to frame Tonraq in the future. He needed his brother out of the way.

There were secrets in Unalaq's life that nobody knew; riotous ambition buried beneath a peaceful and mature facade. Everyone knew of his frequent journeys into the spirit world, but nobody knew of his meetings with the Red Lotus, and the dark spirit Vaatu. Nobody knew of his ambition to bring the spirit and material worlds together, as they were always meant to be. Unalaq had information about the creation of the avatar, the nature of spirits, the development of the _world_ , that none of the surrounding sycophants would ever know.

All the politicians and councilmen and noblewomen put on a fake face, licked boots, threw away their dignity, for the sole purpose of realizing their own dreams. But Unalaq had a bigger goal: spirits...humanity...freedom...balance. He wouldn't bother himself with asinine human feelings like greed or jealousy or love anymore.

Unalaq exhaled and released his desire and emotion. His motives should _not_ be driven by something as arbitrary as his _emotions_. In his mind, he chanted: _Tonraq is an obstacle, not an enemy. Malina is irrelevant. Father's attention will be the byproduct of my own ambition. I will be driven. I will stay true. I will succeed. I will be at peace._

 _I am humanity's hero._

He could be the savior to usher in a new spiritual age. He could do anything he wanted. He no longer had endure a second place status in the chain of leadership. Before, Unalaq would accept his insignificance. He would settle.

But not anymore. After achieving spirituality and meeting the Red Lotus and Vaatu, he realized his full potential. Never again would he think that sometimes, it's just better to quit while you're ahead.

* * *

a/n: Malina is the name of Unalaq's wife, according to the nick website. So he does get the girl in the end! (After he goes nuts, of course). Unalaq was once a member of the Red Lotus.

Also, _The Prince_ (title of this) is actually a real book, written by Niccoló Machiavelli, an Italian Renaissance author. He encouraged using underhanded tactics to gain power if a politician truly believes that they would be the best leader.


End file.
